The view from CES 2013: 3D is dead as TV gets smart

BBC North controller of production Mark Harrison presents his findings from the annual tech fest.

CES in Las Vegas always reveals important truths about the evolving relationship between media producers and audiences.

The first this year is that everyone has finally accepted 3D TV is dead.

Last year, some still insisted you couldn’t operate in the future without a pair of 3D glasses, but now the specs are being reserved for gaming and movies at the cinema.

3D’s place has been taken by 4K, or Ultra HD. We are years away from being able to make and transmit in 4K, yet it matters far more than 3D ever did: it enables manufacturers to focus on making bigger, better, normal TVs.

That means that while budgets get tighter, the need to make high-quality digital output that can hold its own on a screen next to ondemand 4K movies will ensure production remains ambitious.

The second CES truth is that gadget innovation now more often sits in software than hardware.

There seemed barely a new device that didn’t require the download of an accompanying app - from toys to TVs.

This in turn links those devices to tablets and smartphones, with the net effect of multiplying the number of information activities people can do on their devices; in other words, TV increasingly has competition that isn’t other TV.

The final, and most compelling, truth of CES 2013 is that smart TVs just stopped being stupid.

For years, manufacturers have been developing horrible proprietary interfaces but now the TV screen is taking on the clean, simple interface of the tablet.

Perhaps the most compelling offering is Google TV - an open platform for whichever manufacturer wants it, and several do.

Imagine the full power of Google search, Android apps and YouTube, now add Google’s voice search via your remote or smartphone.

When the likes of Netflix, YouTube, Hulu and Amazon video are a single click away, and shows like The X Factor have their own app on the home screen, it becomes more than just a TV interface.

Google TV, and other similar systems, is brilliant for audiences and producers - but scary for broadcasters.